Love, Time Travel and Turnabouts
by BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: Set in the Dai Gyakuten Saiban universe. Very soft M/M. Apollo Justice/Ryuunosuke Naruhodou, very light Apollo/Phoenix if you squint. Apollo can't sleep, and neither can Ryuunosuke. On the eve of what promises to be a painful trial, they share a sky of stars and memories. Apollo comforts Ryuunosuke under the sky they share, and two hearts are mended that night.
_Set in the Dai Gyakuten Saiban universe. Very soft M/M. A random idea in which Phoenix, Apollo and Trucy fell through a time machine and ended up in Sherlock Holmes' house. The three of them quickly befriended Holmes, Iris, Susato and Phoenix Wright's ancestor. Apollo finds the latter devastatingly adorable._

 _Written to the Hayao Miyazaki Piano Collection. This was pretty much born because I'm watching the fan translated walkthrough of DGS on YouTube and think Naruhodou is wickedly adorable myself. Plus I adore all of the other characters as well._

 _Budding Apollo/Naruhodou, very light Phoenix/Apollo (if you squint). Or it can be a very protective Phoenix not at all liking his son's crush on his ancestor. Whichever one you choose._

* * *

"Can't sleep either, huh?"

Apollo turned to face Ryuunosuke Naruhodo, someone that had been more than generous towards a pocket of time travelling oddballs. No longer was he alone underneath a cerulean bed of stars, but it was a fact of life he was willing to accept. Ryuu's presence was as intrusive as a kitten's meow. He never did anything but exude the softest, kindest light-something Apollo desperately wanted to protect. So sharing a sky of smiling stars-not at all a problem. Even if he and his family were floating in another dimension, far away from the Wright Anything Agency and everything else they held dear-

The stars were still beautiful, and beautiful treasures were meant to be shared.

"I guess sleep's not on my to-do list tonight," Apollo chuckled, a warm sound that brushed against the night sky. He rubbed his neck in a show of light nervousness. Instinctively warm towards Phoenix Wright's ancestor (and deadly towards anyone that even looked at him the wrong way), Trucy's brother gave him a comforting smile.

"What's on your mind? Nervous about tomorrow's trial?"

A knife from Wocky Kitaki's treasured collection buried itself in Apollo's heart. Ryuu's face fell in a way that made Apollo want to tear apart the heavens, earth and sun to rescue his smile. "Yes, I am," the other attorney replied, head bowed, eyes and spirit downcast. The silence between them was gentle yet torturous, ending after a moment but still agonizing.

"I know we have done everything to ensure the trial will be a success. We have all worked so very hard. I'm very proud of our efforts, truly I am, it's just-"

Apollo laid a hand on the other's shoulder, smile as broad and warm as the sun. "It's okay, no need to explain. I know exactly what you're going through."

The way Ryuu's eyes lit up reminded Apollo very much of a baby bird. He'd have to start calling their host 'baby bird' from that point on. "You do?" Susato's mentor asked, eyes on fire with that special kind of magic that couldn't ever be found anywhere else. Not in any era, time or space.

"Yeah. The pressure you're feeling now-I've felt it way too many times to count. Our jobs aren't so easy when we're defending the ones we love. You should be proud of yourself, though. Proud of the way you handle yourself in court. You're pretty amazing."

For a moment, all of Heaven erupted on the other attorney's face. He clutched his heart with his hands, looking very much like an innocent prisoner that had finally be released from prison. But then all of Heaven's stars, clouds and songs fell, replaced by black sadness. "Thank you," was the soft, bittersweet response. He turned away from Apollo, eyes directed at the world beneath Sherlock Holmes' balcony.

"But I still don't feel like much of an attorney. I know I've been through a lot of cases, but…I'm not at all what Asougi would have been. If it weren't for all of you…I'd be nothing."

Apollo stared at him, the young man with a penchant for delivering knock-out objections and an equally strong penchant for battering his self-worth into ashes with the Judge's hammer. Trucy's brother stared at him as they shared the sky of stars, standing on the balcony of the great Sherlock Holmes, on the eve of what promised to be an earth-shattering trial. In court against the feared Reaper of Old Bailey. "You remind me of someone I'm pretty close to," he said, his voice as soft as the stars above.

"Someone studying to be an attorney, with only his friend by his side. He never thought he'd amount to anything, never thought he'd get anywhere, but…his friend kept cheering him on. No matter how much the attorney doubted himself, his friend kept him going. His friend…was the very reason he got out of bed every morning."

Taking quick, detailed note of the look on Ryuu's face, Apollo quickly rebounded: "I hope, more than anything, to be that friend for you," he said, still smiling, still as warm as the sun. "Just as my friend cheered me on…I'll work hard to be a source of strength for you. I promise."

Ryuu frowned, rubbing his chin. In his book, Apollo might as well have spoken in an alien language. "You…you already are, though."

Trucy's brother peered up at the stars, beaming. "Nice to know I'm doing something right, I guess. And since you validated my efforts, I'll keep doing my job. I really think you need to stop being so hard on yourself. You keep saying you don't feel like an attorney, but you're honestly the greatest attorney I've ever met."

"Don't lie to me, please," Susato's mentor groaned, slumping over, every syllable drawn out in his familiar theatrical fashion. He worked hard to reject Apollo's compliments but his cheeks were beet red. "Have mercy, not pity."

Apollo's laughter sprang forth like a butterfly from a cocoon. "Fine, don't believe me. Just look up."

Their gazes were united, peering up at a sea of stars. Neither of them spoke for what must have been forever and a day, each from a different world but sharing the sky in the same way. Apollo's voice broke the silence, just as gentle as the light they were gazing at. "My friend used to tell me that whenever the stars were at their brightest, they were celebrating," he said, eyes just as luminescent as the stars.

"They were at their brightest because they knew just how hard I worked, and they wanted to cheer me on too. He told me that the stars were saying 'never give up'. 'Keep trying'. That's why they were so beautiful sometimes. I didn't understand sometimes, but now, standing next to you, his words hit home harder than ever. The stars…even though they aren't in my sky, in my world, shining above my home, I know. I know they're at their brightest because of how hard you're trying. And I think…I think your friend is the brightest of the brightest, cheering you on as loudly as he can."

Ryuu said nothing at first, eyes averted from the sky and from Apollo. He then lifted his gaze, and turned to Trucy's brother with a tearful smile. "You remind me very much of my friend. When I'm with you…I know this will sound stupid, but…I feel…I feel like Asougi's still with me. I feel like…that night was nothing but a bad dream. It never happened. I…I didn't feel this way before you came."

The smile that came next on Ryuu's face shot tears into Apollo's eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you, Justice-sama. I think…because of you and your words…I think I'll be all right tomorrow. I can do it. Thank you. Thank you very much."

* * *

"Look at them. Look at Apollo!"

"Wrightie, sssssh!"

"How can I when he's goo-goo eyeing my ancestor?! Look at him! Apollo doesn't smile like that at anyone else! Doesn't he get that he's hitting on my ANCESTOR?!"

Trucy, a part of the mob hiding from Apollo and Ryuu's view, beamed at her father. "Daddy, are you jealous?" she asked, her voice an excited murmur. Her two new partners-in-crime, Susato and Iris, giggled with eyes aglow.

"Of course I'm not jealous but just LOOK at him! Trucy, sweetheart, Apollo's got a crush on my great-great-great-great grandfather so he actually has a crush on ME because that's my ancestor!"

Someone not too far away tut-tutted, wagging his finger. "Sounds very much like jealousy to me."


End file.
